Rant & Rave: Natural Mascara

This Week’s Topic: NATURAL MASCARA!

Your Mission: Tell us what you love, hate, or are otherwise indifferent to about natural mascara. What drives you bananas? What makes them necessary?

my answer: Natural mascaras are great for barely-there looks when you don’t have a lot of time or don’t want to wear a lot of makeup. They also work well as a layering mascara–you can get some really nice length and separation without the clumping.

Discussion and debate are highly encouraged, and we expect community members to participate respectfully. When asking a question, please check the FAQ section (above) for information about purchasing, price, dupes, and the like. If you have general feedback or need technical support, please contact us.

Comments that include advertisements, self-promotion, insults, etc. may be in violation of our comment policy and subject to deletion. Please see our comment policy for more information.

40 thoughts on “Rant & Rave: Natural Mascara”

Hmmm… when I read the title of this post, I thought you meant “natural” as opposed to “full of chemicals” and I hurried over to proclaim (for the thousandth time) my love for Tarte’s Lights Camera Lashes, my holy grail mascara.
That being said, I don’t get the point of a “natural look” mascara. I want big lashes, the bigger and more dramatic the better, all the time. There hasn’t been a single circumstance when I wanted natural, average looking lashes. Even if I don’t put ANY other make-up on my face/eyes, I want my lashes to look full, long and black.

@xamyx Oh I’m sorry, you must be allergic to some of the ingredients… That’s a shame, because this mascara is simply fabulous for me. Have you given their new one, Gifted, a try? Maybe check the ingredients list to see of there’s any differences. I personally think it’s a bit less dramatic than LCL, but still better than most :).

@ingerasata Thank you! I’m a huge fan of Tarte, and I can use all the shadows, the primer, and even the lash primer. I don’t know what ingredient to look for, but I’ll do a comparison, to see if anything stands out. I’ve had only one other product give the same reaction, which were the Sephora baked eyeshadow palettes, which was also strange, because I can wear the regular shadows, and I wear baked/mineral shadows in several other brands. My eyes have never been sensitive to anything, even products that say not safe for eyes, LOL.

For me natural mascara has no effect and is completely unnecessary, since I already have black lashes that look like they’re having mascara on them. When I wear mascara I want dramatic and full lashes, not natural. I don’t get why brands make “natural look” mascaras, but that’s just my opinion.

When I use mascara, I want my lashes to look significantly blacker, longer and fuller! So natural mascara? Not for me I own one natural mascara, which is a transparent one, and I use it one male models. I would never use this on myself, though.

It is rather pointless to use natural masara on my short and thin lashes. If I want to make any impact with my lashes I have to use the real deal – hardcore curling and thickening mascara which is far from being natural. :$

I can’t really do natural mascaras because they don’t really make any difference to my lashes! They are not short short, but a part of them is tucked under my lids (monolids) so I really have to curl my lashes and pump them up with a good one!

I definitely say it’s “Go big or go home” when it comes to mascara for me. Although I do have double eyelids, I’ve still got the not-so-enviable asian lashes. If I’m going to put a masacara on, I’m definitely not shooting for anything barely there or natral LOL

I actually had a hard time getting used to the popular look of really huge, fake, clumpy lashes. I’d rather have more subtle mascara, especially for daytime. I particularly like MAC Opulash for a natural look without clumps.

Mascara is the one thing I would probably wear if I could only wear one item of makeup so it better be BLACK and lengthening like no other, and I have gorgeous lashes to begin with, so I guess I don’t understand the natural mascara at all??

I think it depends on your lashes’ condition
Mine are quite long and nice, so I feel that I actually have volume and length from Aveda Mosscara. It’s a very good natural mascara, but only this one. All other Dr.Hauschka, Living Nature and etc are pretty pretty bad.

Uh…can someone give an example of natural vs. not natural mascara? I’m not even totally sure if i’ve used one. I mean, I admit I don’t like the really spidery, clumpy look. I like mascara that darkens and lengthens.

@CynthiaCaridad @jeneyg I don’t think that’s right, CynthiaCaridad. Natural mascara in this context would be one that gives you a more natural look to your lashes rather than a mascara that goes all out for lengthening, volumizing, and curling. Like I love DiorShow Black Out, which is a more dramatic mascara, but Maybelline Full ‘n Soft is a more natural mascara I also like.

Because I have a lot of fine blonde lashes still, natural to me is getting them dark black sans clumps thickness. Makes a huge difference on me. If I want big lashes I pop on a pair of false one. I personally hate the look of thick caked on mascara.

@Ani_BEE It’s honestly sort of upsetting me that people are calling it useless. It’s not as though I’d call hair products geared for brunettes, or foundation for a deeper skin tone ‘useless.’ I’m such a pansy.

There isn’t really a place for natural mascara in my life, because if I’m doing a simple makeup look or I’m in a rush, I’m still going to make sure my lashes are big and bold. Plus, if I wanted a more natural look, I”d just do one light coat of my regular mascara.

I like them, but I’m more inclined to get a mascara with a little more “oomph” and just apply sparingly on days when I want to be more natural. That way I can do natural and dramatic and get more bang for my buck out of one mascara! If I had the money, I wouldn’t mind trying more natural mascaras, though.